Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Topaze Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson December 17, 2022

Topaze (1933) is one of the wittier satires to emerge from Hollywood's pre-Code era. Based on the eponymous 1928 play by French literary artist and filmmaker Marcel Pagnol, the adoptive work is by Benn W. Levy (dialogue writer for Hitchcock's Blackmail) with a screenplay by prolific Hollywood scribe Ben Hecht. The latter was rapidly becoming one of literature and film's biggest writing stars. His play The Front Page was adapted into a movie two years earlier. In the same year he scripted Topaze, Hecht also penned a story treatment for Hawks's Scarface. Topaze became an ideal starring vehicle for versatile John Barrymore, who told journalists in 1933 that he preferred comedy over any other genre. He used it to his advantage to create a multifaceted characterization of the title role. "[A]s anyone who has ever watched my parts should know, I love char­acterizations," Barrymore was quoted in the trades at the time. "Topaze combines both a character and a comedy role, and I was thoroughly in my element playing the simple, honest school teacher who eventually becomes a sophisticated egotist and a better trickster than those who tricked him in the first place.” The central role reunited Barrymore with Myrna Loy, who appeared together in Don Juan (1926).

At Stegg Academy, Professor Auguste Topaze (John Barrymore) preaches honesty and integrity to his young students. The bratty and over-privileged Charlemagne de La Tour-La Tour (Jackie Searl) is a class rebel who refuses to adhere to the professor's principles. Charlemagne wants to receive optimal grades even though he's lackadaisical and isn't particularly bright. After he receives zeroes and a classroom time-out from the professor, Charlemagne complains to his parents and claims Topaze is a communist. Baroness Hortense (Jobyna Howland), Charlemagne's mother, uses her social status to convince Academy headmaster Dr. Stegg (Frank Reicher) that Topaze deserves to be fired (which he is). Coco (Myrna Loy), the mistress of Baron Philippe de La Tour-La Tour (Reginald Mason), is seeking a tutor for her nephew and invites Topaze to her Art Deco apartment. The baron senses a great opportunity to use Topaze as a pawn in a shady money-making scheme for his mineral water company. He appoints Topaze as Chief Chemist of La Tour Chemical Works. The professor concocts a panacea tonic that's branded as "Sparkling Topaze." Unbeknown to Topaz, the sparkling water also contains microbe-filled sewage. Will Topaz figure out the baron's fishy methods and regain his sterling reputation?

Topaze was justifiably acclaimed as one of the best films of 1933 with critical raves for Hecht and Levy's writing as well as Barrymore's varied performance. The Oakland Tribune proclaimed that the English film version of Topaze "is a far better picture than it was a play, simply because [director Harry d'Abbadie] d’Arrast and Barrymore read into it qualities that the stage producers did not recognize, chiefly irony." The Kansas City Star lauded and placed it in the same category as other pre-Code films: "The audience that should enjoy Topaze to the utmost is the audience that has praised so highly such films as The Animal Kingdom and A Bill of Divorcement. Topaze might have been written by a modern Voltaire its wit is so penetrating." The film and main performance were also well-received in New York. Martin Dickstein of The Brooklyn (NY) Daily Eagle stated that Barrymore delivered "one of his best performances in one of the season’s best pictures....Mr. Barrymore plays the role of the bewildered tutor with a perfection that is rarely encountered on the screen." The Brooklyn (NY) Times-Union described it as "entertainment of the highest order, painted with magnificence by the artistry of the highly gifted Mr. Barrymore." The Miami Herald observed a fresh performance from its main star: "...an entirely new John Barrymore to motion picture audiences and one that is sure to be more liked than ever...this presentation proves undoubtably that his forte is high comedy....Bar­rymore has developed a flawless char­acterization that never once falters and is always humorously pathetic." The Honolulu Star-Bulletin classified Barrymore's performance as "flawless throughout the picture. His expressions, his diction and his mannerisms are perfectly attuned to the role he portrays....Topaze is a delightful picture from start to finish, with Barrymore at his best." In his 1976 book, The Selznick Players, Ronald Bowers commended Topaze as "a first-rate picture" and "a brilliant adaptation of Pagnol’s play" (p. 22).

Topaze Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Kino Lorber Studio Classics' release of Topaze comes on this MPEG-4 AVC-encoded BD-50. This is a fine restoration from a 2K scan. While damage marks are present throughout, they don't detract from enjoying a smooth presentation. The restorers were able to keep the marks from appearing too obtrusive from one frame to the next. The grayscale and whites are well-rendered on this transfer. There aren't a lot of moments for black levels to stand out. Kino has encoded the feature at an average video bitrate of 26898 kbps.

As you watch Topaze, pay special attention to Coco's apartment (e.g., Screenshot #s 7 and 17). The Los Angeles Times interviewed art director Van Nes Polglase, who described the six adjoining rooms. The apartment of Coco featured a living­ room, dining room, bedroom, hall, laboratory, and den. They were all built on a sound stage.

Kino has provided eight scene selections for the 78-minute film.

Topaze Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Kino has supplied a DTS-HD Master Audio Dual Mono (1559 kbps, 16-bit). The lossless monaural recording is sufficiently audible to discern spoken words. Due to the recording's age, though, dialogue and other sounds can sound a bit faint and distant. The sonic presence doesn't have an immediacy through the center speaker so it's recommended to have the volume boosted throughout. Note: Gene Fowler recorded in his 1944 biography, Good Night, Sweet Prince: The Life and Times of John Barrymore, that director Harry D'Arrast preserved the important speeches from Topaze on a record as exemplar of excellent dramatic reading by Barrymore and the other actors.

Unfortunately, there are no subtitling options.

Topaze Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary by Film Historian Kat Ellinger - in this feature-length track, Ellinger discusses differences between Topaze (1933) and a first draft of the production script, which she read. She also highlights the differences this Topaze has with Marcel Pagnol's play and other cinematic renditions, including the French versions and writer/director Peter Sellers's I Like Money (1961). Additionally, she places where Topaze fits into Barrymore's career. In English, not subtitled.

• Bonus Trailers - KLSC trailers for the Selznick productions The Young in Heart, Intermezzo: A Love Story, Since You Went Away, and I'll Be Seeing You.

Topaze Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Topaze is a sharp and smart satirical comedy with wonderful writing and performances. John Barrymore essentially portrays two different sides of the Topaze character. His mannerisms and inflections are most impressive. As I watched the picture, I thought that Hecht and Levy could have expanded Myrna Loy's character as her Coco is underused here. (Kit Elligner made a similar observation in her commentary.) In her 1987 autobiography, Myrna Loy: Being and Becoming, written with James Kotsilibas-Davis, Loy didn't go much into her character but shared her memories of Barrymore on set. "He often made jokes about his drinking, yet remained sober on the set, very serious about the picture. I think Topaze meant a lot to him. No longer the rogue I'd known at Warners, he was very supportive in our scenes, generous, but preoccupied, sad" (p. 78). Kino Lorber has delivered a very good transfer from a fine restoration. The monaural sound track doesn't have any pops or scratches but can be somewhat difficult to hear at times. A VERY SOLID RECOMMENDATION.